Provider

Provider
Written by Scott Murphy
Directed by Bill Norton

Original Airdate: January 21, 2002

Plot: Realizing how much it will cost to raise a child, Angel sets about bringing in increased revenues to Angel Investigations by advertising. This leads to the firm being overwhelmed by call for help and the staff being spread thing--Angel agrees to help clear out a nest of vampires for a businessman, Fred is tasked with solving a puzzle for a group of demons and Wesley and Gunn seek to protect a young woman from her ex-boyfriend, who happens to be a zombie.

Review

Warning: This is not a misprint. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for the latest episode of Angel, "Provider." If you've not yet seen the story and want to go in unaware of how the events play out, I strongly suggest you turn back now....

In short: Losing momentum quickly....

Let me just start this by saying that I'm extremely glad the next episode of Angel is written and directed by Joss Whedon. Because after the last three new episodes, Angel is in desperate need of a jump-start. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Joss can do it.

Because heaven knows, Angel needs it.

After starting off the season with a perfect blend of action, comedy and a arc that actually seemed to move forward in an interesting way, Angel has completely lost all of its momentum. I really trace it back to the final scene in "Lullaby" where Holtz had Angel in his sites and didn't pull the trigger. From that point on, Angel has lost most, if not all of it's early season momentum.

And no where is that more evident than in the latest offering, "Provider."

Which is interesting because "Provider" is trying desperately to get back to the basics that made the beginning of season three work so well.

The biggest thing "Provider" had going for it was that it attempted to get some of the other characters--and by other characters I mean anyone besides Cordelia and Angel--into the spotlight yet again. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, we had an episode that gave some good screen time to Fred, Wesley, Gunn and Lorne. Each one had their own plotline and each of the plotlines had some potential to it.

But the big problem with all the plotlines was that they are all incredibly predictable. So, we've advertised, looking for forward in an attempt to get back to the basic mission statement that is Angel Investigations, "We help the helpless." And we get a flood of calls and possible clients, some of whom we pursue. But never at any point do any of the characters really dig into the background of the stories or the clients or their claims. I guessed fairly early-on that none of the clients would be exactly what they seemed, nor were Angel and company getting the entire story. And while I'm sure these moments were left out for humorous and dramatic effect--the whole Fred plotline ends very quickly if somebody says--"Oh, by the way, they're going to kill you if you solve this"--it comes at the expense of the characters.

Angel Investigations has been in business for three years now. And we've seen Angel and company lied to or manipulated by clients before. So, it seems a bit odd and out of place for them all to be so easily conned here. Angel, I can understand. Certainly the emphasis on making money and being concerned for Conner's future would blind him. But the rest of the gang surely should have stepped up at some point. Indeed, this type of following blindly seems really out of character for Wesley, who should have learned from his experiences with Faith at the very least that caution is a good thing and that you can't just be blinded.

But, again, if the group actually takes some time to ask questions and think things through, you lose the entire last half of the episode because they wouldn't take the job to start with.

Of the three jobs we saw, I found all of them horribly predictable. Fred's certainly had the biggest warning signs attached to it since the only way that the group could communicate with the demons was through Lorne. This left me thinking that there must be more to this than they were revealing and wondering at some point if someone would ask that question. However, it never was and, thus, we got the "Fred and Lorne in peril" plotline, in an attempt to add some dramatic thrust to the show--which, I can say that it desperately needed.

As for Angel's plotline, figuring that cleaning out the vampires would involve more to it than we thought wasn't a stretch either. I liked that they tried to do something more with it--seeing the client actually have some motive for wanting to dust the vampires was interesting. However, I felt sure the treasure that was referred to would be some kind of artifact of some kind. I liked that they tried to use this as a red herring for those of who regularly watch the show and would jump to a conclusion like that. It was interesting that it was a friend's watch--though that definitely set up some overtones to this plot.

Finally, we had Gunn and Wesley helping the young woman in peril. I really expected so much more from this. I kept waiting and waiting for the twist to come in and it never did. I expected to find she had raised him out of regret and then broken up with him or something more to it. However, it never came. And I can say that I fully guessed that she'd killed him long before that ever came up. Indeed, of the plotlines in the show, this one cried out for more development. There seemed to be some kind of underlying tension between she and Wesley--overtones of Virginia--that could have been explored. Indeed, it might have given some extra oomph to the storyline and kept me a bit more interesting in what was going on.

But as predictable as the three separate plotlines were, they did lead to a nice moment at the end--namely the Angel Investigation crew acknowledging they are stronger together than apart. Again, it's a nice moment and it is nice to see them realize that there are some things that are more important that money. But to see this revelation is nothing new. If the early to mid-season arc of last year didn't teach us this, I don't know what will. Also, seeing Angel get sidetracked from the good fight and how that affects everyone was done a whole lot better in the Angel fires everyone and goes crazy over Darla plotline we saw week-in and week-out last season.

And yet, at least these plotlines reached some type of resolution. At least they ended.

The same cannot be said of Holtz's storyline, which seems to have been brought up only for the sake of reminding us that "Hey, there's a guy out there obsessed with killing Angel."

Holtz's torture of the young girl and his desire to win her over to his crusade should have been so much more interesting that it was. Seeing how strongly Holtz feels about his desire to destroy Angel--I mean, how many of us would let ourselves be turned to stone for 200 years to wreak vengeance upon someone...I think the answer is not many--is interesting, but again, we've seen it all before. Again, I bring up the 200 years as stone thing....that pretty much cements it for me (no pun intended). So, seeing Holtz assemble his army is interesting, but it feels as though this plotline is taking place outside of the main Angel universe time. Namely time is passing very slowly there, almost as if it exists in its own little separate universe. If Holtz is out scouring the streets for his army, as Lorne reports that he is, surely he would have found others to help him out. Also, I'm not really sure I buy that Justine would go through the physical abuse he puts her through since we've seen she knows nothing of Angel and has no real grudge against him. And after the way Holtz has treated her, I can't imagine why she'd feel like she was joining some great crusade. Perhaps there's some stuff we're not seeing, but again, I don't buy it at all.

I think the biggest problem with the episode as a whole is the characters were mere shadows of themselves.

Holtz is obsessed with vengeance, Justine is the woman with something to prove, etc. Even the regular cast comes down to be caricatures of their usual selves--and I think this is simply so we can have some funny moments. I don't mind the occasional humorous episode, but I do mind when the humor comes at the expense of the characters. And that's the biggest thing with what happened here. We got to see just one-side of the characters and not see them as fully-rounded people that we've come to know and love week-in and week-out on this show. And that, in my mind, is a huge mistake. It always ends up alienating me and makes me come away from an episode extremely disappointed.

And that's exactly what I am with "Provider"--disappointed.

Why? Because it had potential going in. The idea that Angel would realize--Hey, I need to provide for Conner is hugely interesting. To see how he'd try and do it--again, hugely interesting. To see the advertising work, again, hugely interesting. To get back to the premise of helping the helpless--again, a good idea. But in all of it, the execution failed and we ended up with a muddled mess that attempts to have some funny moments all the while pushing the season arc one baby-step forward and it never gels and it never comes together.

It's frustrating to see Angel do this--again, because early in the year it was so consistently good week-in and week-out. I am hoping to see the show right the ship soon and I have hope that it will. But until then, you can chalk me up as a dissatisfied viewer.

So, I guess that about wraps it up for now, except a few small things....

--Cordy and Angel in bed with Conner at the end. I know I've said that I buy the A/C relationship now, but that was a bit too much, too soon for me.

--The scenes of Cordelia and Angel talking to Conner in baby talk while having a serious conversation were nicely done, as were the scenes of Cordelia talking to Conner about his various uncles and aunts.

--Even the teaser was predictable. Seriously, if you're going to have 6000 flyers printed up, you think you'd proof-read the things.

--Wesley and Gunn's new-found competition for Fred is interesting. It's one of the few plotlines that actually had some good grounding for earlier this year--and it's nice to see them actually moving it forward. I like this one moving slowly because there's always a lot of fun to be had with the old love triangle.

Well, that's about it for now. All-in-all, "Provider" had potential to be more than it was and, unfortunately, it pretty much came up short on all counts. Not a good way to lead into taking a week off before we head into sweeps.

My rating: 3.0 (out of 10.0) (The lowest rating Angel has received all year (from me at least))

Next up: In two weeks, Joss writes and directs an Angel episode for the first time. I'm cautiously optimistic.